World Cup Digest

A round-up of other world cup news in brief

Brewer to assist arrested women

A DUTCH brewer is providing legal and other assistance to the two Dutch women accused of pulling off a promotional stunt at the World Cup in Johannesburg, and said it would cancel promotional activities.

The two women were among a group of about three dozen who wore skimpy orange dresses in a suspected “ambush marketing” stunt by brewer Bavaria at a match between the Netherlands and Denmark at the Soccer City stadium on Monday.

“Unfortunately Bavaria has been drawn into the furore surrounding the arrest of the two ladies who were wearing an orange dress also worn by thousands of Dutch ladies and football supporters,” the brewer said in a statement late on Wednesday night.

“There is no way Fifa can hold these ladies responsible for their attendance at the match in their Dutch dress in Soccer City and Bavaria is currently doing everything in their power to assist the arrested Dutch ladies,” Bavaria said.

Anheuser Busch’s Budweiser is the official beer for the tournament and Fifa fiercely protects its sponsors from brands which are not its partners.

“Bavaria will ask Fifa to immediately stop intimidating Dutch dressed female supporters,” the Dutch brewer said.

Bavaria has clashed with Fifa before over supporters wearing its orange clothes to stadiums. Four years ago at the World Cup in Germany scores of Dutch men watched a match in their underwear after stewards ordered them to remove orange lederhosen bearing the name of Bavaria.

“We feel a bit used by Bavaria,” said Cindy van Dieren, according to Dutch daily Telegraaf, citing one of the women wearing the dress.

The women were released on €1,000 bail each on Wednesday and will face a hearing next week. Dutch officials said the arrest of the two women was “disproportionate”.

Boost for Spain over injuries

THE PAIN of Spain’s shock 1-0 loss to Switzerland in their opening Group H match was partly eased yesterday by the news that Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos have not suffered serious injury.

Midfielder Iniesta, who had only recently shaken off a thigh problem, had to be substituted in the 77th minute after a heavy challenge while fullback Ramos fell awkwardly and hurt his ribs.

Coach Vicente del Bosque said Iniesta was fine and had only suffered slight pain while tests on Ramos at the European champions training base showed no bone damage, the Spanish soccer federation said. Spain play Honduras in their second Group H match on Monday.

Germans turn to pasta

GERMANY’S traditional breakfast of sausage, ham and cheese has been replaced by pasta as players fill up on carbohydrates early in the day for today’s Group D clash against Serbia.

The team has been trying to simulate matchday conditions in the past few days with their game in Port Elizabeth set for a 12.30 kick-off, an unusual time for German players, who were forced to drop their usual protein-rich breakfast.

“It takes a bit of getting used to, having a bowl of pasta at 10 in the morning,” said Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff yesterday, before departing for the southern coastal city.

But, given the early start, players needed to take on carbs to boost their energy levels some hours prior to the game. Germany, who impressively won their opener against Australia 4-0, have also changed their training times to 1.30pm local time to get players used to competing at that time.

Their final group match is against Ghana next Wednesday at Johannesburg’s Soccer City.

Chile police use tear gas after win

POLICE used tear gas and water cannons to subdue rowdy Chile fans and arrested 81 people in the capital Santiago on Wednesday after the country’s first World Cup win in nearly 50 years, officials said.

Police said they detained the supporters mainly for public disorder in downtown Santiago, where fans massed in red national jerseys blowing trumpets and waving flags as they watched Chile beat Honduras 1-0 in their World Cup opener in South Africa.

“There were a couple of robberies, some arrested for causing damage, but most were for disorder,” a police spokeswoman said.

Soccer is the most popular sport in Chile and major fixtures can sometimes spark street brawls.

Chile’s victory came 48 years to the day after they last won a World Cup match – a 1-0 win in a third-place play-off against Yugoslavia on home soil in 1962.

This is the fifth World Cup they have been to since and in the previous four they played 13 matches without a win.